Tamil Nadu rides on Hemalatha’s brilliance

Opting to bat first, TN posted 152 for three with skipper Niranjana Nagarajan contributing 32 off 29 balls with four hits to the fence. But the day belonged to her opening partner Hemalatha who was in a belligerent mood as she struck nine fours and two sixes to remain undefeated on 90 off just 61 balls. 

Towards the end, offspinner L Nethra chipped in with a cameo knock of 23. 

In reply, J&K was never in the hunt as it kept losing wickets regularly to be skittled out for 49. Nethra caused much of the damage taking three wickets for 12 runs while left-arm spinner Nida Rehman picked two for one. 

Tamil Nadu will next take on Odisha at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Hemalatha, who has been representing TN for the last six years, has been in terrific form in this tournament underlining her utility as an allrounder of considerable merit. 

On Tuesday though, the J&K side had to bear the brunt of her blade. Hemalatha was ecstatic that her effort helped her side thrash J&K. “I’m glad that my innings enabled my team to win by a huge margin after suffering a narrow three-run loss to Chhattisgarh on Monday. 

My consistent performances have been amply rewarded as I was a part of the India ‘A’ team’s series against Bangladesh last month. I have played in the all-India Challengers tournament last season. And I had my first taste of captaincy when I led the TN U-23 team last year,” said Hemalatha, who is an admirer of Mithali Raj.